Advertising… The Worst Birthday Card Ever 8 Sep 201213 Oct 2012 I'm excited to be turning 50 soon, and my friends are celebrating early--even Aetna. They sent a card: "Happy Birthday!" it says, with fourteen lighted candles. It says "aetna" in…
College… What’s Your Style? 30 Jul 201115 Apr 2012 This one is for those of you who already write in complete, yet not inexhaustible sentences, and wonder whether you have any style. Of course, you do--just as you have…
Business… Handwritten E-mail 25 Apr 201123 Apr 2011 Handwritten E-mail--what a lovely idea! Pilot, maker of traditional pens, is working on it. It isn't perfected yet--this is still beta testing--but they have a beautiful goal. I suggest you watch…
Change the World… In Case of Rejection 13 Apr 2011 As poet Wesley McNair braved rejections, his mentor Donald Hall comforted him with these observations: "These feelings simply do not end! Believe me I am sympathetic with your feelings, but…
Collaboration… Composing Language 11 Apr 20119 Apr 2011 Every time I see my composer son, he raves about and demonstrates some new tool in his repertoire: something about counterpoint, some chord he picked up from another composer, some…
Business… Firefox 4.0 Ain’t Ready 24 Mar 201124 Mar 2011 Some companies use their customers as beta testers. Microsoft springs to mind. I give them at least a year to figure things out before I give in to an upgrade.…
Business Communications… Dinnertime “Stop, Drop, and Roll” 5 Jan 20115 Jan 2011 No, it wasn't a kitchen fire. One of my favorite comedians—though he’s clearly an elementary school boy—was checked by his much older brother with “Stop, Drop [the topic], and Roll”—to…
Business Communications… Friday Flick: Validation 17 Dec 201030 Jun 2024 Click on the image to access the 17-minute film, "Validation," a fable about more than the magic of free parking.
Change the World… Therapeutic Draft 15 Dec 201029 Dec 2010 Almost everyone I meet admits to a book-writing dream, usually a flaming bestseller about what the aspiring author has suffered: twelve chapters detailing the ordeal, and one on the happy…
Business… Question the Preposition 9 Aug 201029 Dec 2010 Remember when teachers assigned papers by length, and adolescent ideas didn't stretch that far? Did you turn "Japan exports transistor radios," into "One of the prime exports of Japan would…
Business… Writing as Cloud Painting 21 Jun 201029 Dec 2010 Have you been cloud gazing lately? Have you noticed that when you share the sky with someone else, you see more? Someone points to a catch: “There’s a crocodile! See?…
Critiques… How to get and give a champion critique 19 Jun 201029 Dec 2010 At a writing conference, one author shared her simple method for teaching anyone (fellow writer or clearly not) to provide a helpful (and free!) critique. You teach your aspiring readers…
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